1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable devices with information processing functions including a mobile phone function, and information management methods for such portable devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable device equipped with two, first and second information processors, and an information management method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, mobile phones enabling wireless voice communication have come into wide use. In addition to the voice communication function, many mobile phones have the capability to send and receive electronic mail. Such mobile phones are often configured to store therein personal information such as names, telephone numbers and mail addresses of persons who can be callers/callees or senders/recipients of electronic mail so that when making a call or sending electronic mail, the user can retrieve and use the information stored beforehand. Further, mobile phones of this type are very often adapted to collectively manage personal information that has no direct connection with telephone call or electronic mail, such as addresses of callers/callees or mail senders/recipients.
On the other hand, there has been a demand for information handling schemes that allow an external device such as a PC (personal computer) to make use of the information stored in the mobile phone. For example, a system has been known in which a computer and a mobile phone are connected to each other by a communication cable to permit the mail data sent/received by the mobile phone to be viewed from and edited by the computer. With this system, the user can create electronic mail while viewing, on the computer, the telephone directory information stored in the mobile phone (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-254119). A technique has also been known whereby, when a PC is connected with a portable information terminal, the information stored in the portable information terminal is collated with that stored in the PC to synchronize the stored information (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-163735).
Meanwhile, the recent development of smaller-sized and higher-performance hardware devices has made it possible to configure multiple systems with different uses within a single, small-sized portable information terminal. Generally, on a single system, one or more operating systems (OSs) are executed with respect to one set of hardware resources including, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). In the small-sized information terminal, on the other hand, multiple sets of hardware resources for implementing respective different functions are mounted as independent systems, and individual OSs are run on the respective systems. In order to reduce the size of the information terminal, the monitor and the input device are shared by two systems, for example. The user of the information terminal can access the function of either of the two systems by switching the screen displayed on the monitor.
As such information terminals equipped with multiple systems, terminals have been under study wherein the mobile phone function is implemented by one system while the general-purpose information processing function equivalent to the one provided by a PC, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) or the like is implemented by another system. This type of system also should desirably be configured such that the general-purpose information processing function can make use of the personal information held by the mobile phone function.
Generally, however, systems adapted to provide the general-purpose information processing function is associated with the problem that unintended leak of information may possibly be caused, for example, by malicious software. Thus, where the system is configured so as to be able to use the personal information held by the mobile phone, it is essential that leakage of the personal information should be prevented.